Geniusee

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Data of Financial Edge

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Financial Training

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Geniusee to accomplish?

• Support development and enhancement of our training and data platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Geniusee?

Referral

Why did you select Geniusee over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Technical skills/experience

How many teammates from Geniusee were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Collect and organize financial data for European companies to publish on our online learning and data platform. This included:

• Using API's from a number of different sources for data retrieval and subsequent data cleaning 
• Testing and implementing mapping rules to organize the data into more usable/searchable buckets
• Use of AI to translate data in foreign languages and to provide summary information about the data

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Write code which collects and updates company data in sync with the underlying data sources
• Ensure that all data collected to our databases is clean, maps to appropriate categories/buckets and is appropriately titled 
• Ensure that company data has unique identifiers to allow us to link up data from different sources

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Constructive and collaborative approach to problem solving
• Responded positively and constructively when changes were made to the project requirements
• Rigorous and systematic approach to testing 
• Deliverables were made on time and to a very high technical standard

What was your primary form of communication with Geniusee?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team had more than just strong technical, data engineering skills - they really understood what we were aiming to achieve, so they could be very proactive about problem solving and recommending improvements. There was also a very regular, open dialogue throughout the project. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Geniusee could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Technical Prodcut Lead of Event UK

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a payment bureau for the hospitality industry. We pay workers on behalf of our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Geniusee to accomplish?

• Azure & Azure B2C
• React web services
• Design

SOLUTION

How did you find Geniusee?

• Referral
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Geniusee over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Geniusee were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Geniusee have helped us deliver some challenging work which we was struggling to accomplish.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Geniusee have been fantastic. They have a good team of clever individuals willing to help us deliver our goals.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I had the pleasure of working with an exceptional project manager on our recent project, and I cannot speak highly enough. She demonstrated excellent leadership skills, always keeping the team motivated and focused. Communication was a strong suit, with regular updates and clear instructions. They were adept at problem-solving, addressing any issues that arose with efficiency and creativity. 
Overall, this project manager played a crucial role in the project's success, and I would highly recommend their services to anyone seeking a skilled and reliable project manager.

What was your primary form of communication with Geniusee?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The camaraderie and support among team members have made the work enjoyable, even during challenging times. I believe our team's strong bond is the secret ingredient to our success, and I look forward to many more productive and enjoyable projects together.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Geniusee could have done differently?

Weekly standup, although not always needed

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Zebulon.ai, a software development company with a platform to connect mature people to meet and gather.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Geniusee?

We wanted to outsource the development of our platform to a cost-effective partner that could deliver an enterprise-level quality solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Geniusee has been helping us with mobile app development for this task, using React Native, React.js, various databases, and a collection of sophisticated and scalable technologies.  We’ve started this process by discussing our requirements and highlighting and documenting user stories to develop wireframes and ensure we all understand what we’re looking for. 

What was the team composition? 

We’ve been working directly with a team manager and a product owner, who is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

We found Geniusee in online research and chose them among a list of potential after testing them through technical calls.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $50,000–$100,000 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our partnership with Geniusee feels like more than just working with a service provider. They’re a professional team that treats us like partners that care about my project since they care about the product’s maintenance and support for further development even after its completion. Moreover, Geniusee’s team is very open-minded regarding our questions to ensure we’re comfortable with their work. Overall, they give us a lot of comfort and confidence in the fact that we have a solid and trusted partner behind us.

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

Geniusee adapts to our requests and meets our deadlines within the expected budget. They’re also very transparent in their working hours. Their team is also responsive, available, and organized because we always know who’s working on what task.

Regarding communication, my team has daily stand-up meetings with them — we feel we have full access to their staff members. We also share a Slack channel to keep flowing and strong communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that we can call Geniusee’s team to request further development several months after they finish a project, and they immediately start working on it again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Geniusee is based in Ukraine, and despite the geo-political situation, their technology works, and they’re delivering what we asked them without problems, so I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with Geniusee as early as possible. Give them as much information as possible and trust in their work so they can provide their smart, open-minded, and constructive work to help you meet your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager for a health and wellness B2C company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

We needed contracting work for a project we had to get over the line, primarily involving backend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Geniusee joined our project midway through and developed a backend API for our website. The team used Node.js, Next.js, TypeScriopt, and AWS. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with a developer and a project manager from Geniusee. 

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

They were recommended to me by Amazon.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just over £4,000 (approximately $4,800 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2022–January 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Geniusee was amazing to work with. Although the project is ongoing, Geniusee’s part of it is complete. 

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good at project management — I would give them top marks. We primarily communicated through Slack because that was our preference. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was overall very impressed with Geniusee’s work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing they needed to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Listalpha, a SaaS platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

We were looking for software development expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Geniusee helps us with software development. They use Angular for the frontend, Figma for the design, Node.js for the server, MongoDB for the database, and it all sits on Heroku and AWS. We also use many plug-in services such as S3 Buckets, storage, monitoring tools, and the standard software development kit with Jira, tracking, and bug and QA tools. We built the initial prototype, and then we developed it into a full-blown platform together.

It’s a CRM platform specialized in the private market world. Venture capital fund, grown equity, or private equity fund companies can use it to track deals and contacts.

What is the team composition?

We started with one full stack developer, and we’ve grown the team to 6–7 people, including front- and backend developers, graphic designers, project managers, and QA people.

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

I met the company's founder at a tech conference in the Nordics.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The software is now in production and has about 1,000 users monthly.

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent, which is why we’re scaling up with them. We’re going to expand the budget significantly by 10 people. We use Jira, Trello, Figma, and Kanban for management. We also use Slack for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have good technical skills; they can crack any technical problem we throw at them. They’re also very clever people. The developers can figure things out themselves and suggest improvements. In addition, they’re hardworking — they even work late nights and weekends.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan ahead and share your requirements upfront. Design the product thoroughly at the conceptual stage to eliminate any rework or issues down the road.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Factmata helps brands and governments to detect fake news online using a SaaS platform that tracks Twitter and other platforms

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Geniusee?

Data engineering using Kubeflow and Kubernetes, and managing/improving our AWS stack including lambdas

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to reduce our costs of our AWS platform and ensure our data pipeline was able to process millions of documents per day through a natural language pipeline

SOLUTION

How did you select Geniusee?

Geniusee came to us via a platform called YouTeam. We selected them because of their strengths in data engineering using Python, a rare skill particularly in MLOps today.

Describe the project in detail.

We had daily meetings and stand ups with the team, including getting their ideas on speccing the platform and the key components and roadmap required. We set amazing processes around check-ins and reporting on outputs including user QA

What was the team composition?

1 DevOps architect and 1 data engineer was provided to us

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our data engineering system can now handle 8 different data types including Reddit and Twitter, and also integrate via API to other social listening tools via a custom schema

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective in reporting and daily management of sprints

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their commitment to their clients was incredible - the CEO will step in if needed

Are there any areas for improvement?

Better vision potentially in data vendors to use for the goal in mind, and a long term angle on what they were building around our data lake

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a fintech and EdTech company. We have an on-demand video platform which users can subscribe to access our original video content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

I was working with another team, and it was fine, but it wasn’t very professional. On top of that, it wouldn’t be able to support thousands of users. We hired Geniusee to improve the quality of our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re our full-time engineering team. They’ve provided a team comprised of a project manager, a frontend developer, backend developer, QA tester, and designer located in Ukraine. They’ve created a bespoke PHP and React platform. Our CTO decides on features and creates a roadmap, and then they execute it.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with six people. Navariy (CTO) is our main point of contact and he works directly with our CTO.

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

I hired a senior CTO and he recommended that we work with Geniusee.

How much have you invested with them?

W spent about £120,000 (approximately $155,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around January 2020 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our platform is up 99% of the time. They’ve also improved the site’s load time for 3.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds. They consistently perform and meet sprint requirements.   

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

They work well with our CTO and project manager, who oversees the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to our previous provider, they’re more professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re growing quickly, which is fine, but they need to concentrate on the clients they work with already and assure that they’re happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We had a senior tech expert manage the project from the UK, then we utilized Geniusee to execute on certain projects. That helped prevent any communication issues, especially since there was a bit of a language barrier.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and co-CEO for a fintech company building out mobile and web app interface. We’re trying to build an system of consumers and merchants to reward responsible consumption behaviors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

We built an MVP with contract developers onshore, but now that we’re looking to scale up and improve the platform, we engaged Geniusee to be our tech team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re focused on handing over our technology stack to them. They’re working with React Native for the mobile app and .NET for our backend infrastructure. This is all hosted on Microsoft Azure as well. Initially, they will be fixing some bugs and improving performance.

Then they will embark on taking ownership of our various deployment activities. That includes everything from development to QA, DevOps, and deployment.

Further down the line, we plan to work with them to build a blockchain-related solution. They’re now our outsource tech team.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with various levels, including the CEO, COO, and their CTO oversees the development team, which is comprised of a React Native developer and one person from their DevOps team.  

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

I worked with them on another project a couple of years ago. I was impressed with what they were capable of doing, but before making a decision, we did go out to market to explore what solutions were available. We found Geniusee to be the most competent and budget-friendly.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000, but then we plan to spend about $7,500 per month and that will scale up over time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2020 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve eliminated bugs in our functioning product and have improved performance speed.

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exceptional. We have daily stand-ups with the project manager and development team. We get weekly reports that include time cards and work efforts. Then, of course, we have Jira boards to manage sprints and the backlog activity. When it comes to communication, it’s usually me who holds up the process. I’m very grateful for their process and operations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were willing and capable of making suggestions to improve the direction of our products and platform. They’re focused on delivery more than time. Their number one priority is delivering a good product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In order to maximize the return on the partnership, clients need to be prepared and know what you want to get out of the engagement. I also recommend that clients have an open dialogue because they have the knowledge to provide recommendations and ideas.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Gowinon.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

I needed to develop a mobile app. I’d worked with a couple of developers previously, and it didn’t really go anywhere, which is why I approached Geniusee.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Geniusee developed a social networking app for Android and iOS. The app connects users to local people around them through a group chat. An example would be someone needing to get opinions on food places in New York; they’d post a question, and the app would send notifications to local people. The user would get invited to a group chat, where they’d get their answer.

The additional challenges that Geniusee faced were in terms of legacy development that’d been done by other developers. It was a matter of understanding that and bringing it up to speed. Previously, it just wasn’t good enough to cope with.

There’s a Firestore backend, and I believe they used React or Node.js on the development side.

What is the team composition?

Initially, there was one key developer that I liaised with for updates and clarifying key requirements. They pulled in resources as needed. For instance, we needed a UX designer at one point to refresh the designs made by the previous team.

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

I found them through a website called YouTeam, which advertises developers from different countries. I knew what kinds of skills and development I’d need, and of the three candidates I looked at, Geniusee came out on top. I got a better vibe from them, and it just felt right, from what I saw.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £15,000–£20,000 (approximately $16,300–21,700 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Geniusee in August 2018, and it’s ongoing. I launched the app in September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The fact that I’m continuing to work with them is a testament to how good the collaboration has been. The biggest KPI for me was actually getting my app launched from where it was. It took me 3–4 years to get to Geniusee, and they expedited the process from there. I was able to build some traction with universities after launching the app and start building out a community of users.

Everyone has loved the idea and liked the app. People find it very useful and easy to use. As part of the user-acceptance testing phase, I got some friends and family to use it before it went live. We got some feedback in terms of bugs, features that weren’t working too quickly, things that were out of place, or typos. Those were rectified pretty much immediately by Geniusee; there was no stonewalling. I found the whole process very collaborative and just easy.

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

I have no complaints. I’m a project manager and business analyst by trade, and I found the communication to be top-notch, with no problems. I got constant updates throughout the engagement. It wasn’t the kind of collaboration where I’d have to liaise communication through somebody; if the developer wanted to clarify something with me, he could just do it. That made it easier and quicker to work with them, and I prefer that approach.

We used Skype, WhatsApp, email, phone calls, and video calls to communicate. During key development, we had updates every week. The development was done in sprints in the agile methodology, so we had a sort of show-and-tell every so often, which allowed me to track the progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nothing is too big a problem for them. They never seem overwhelmed, and they have a can-do attitude. I also like the fact that they don’t just say yes to everything; I go to groups like Geniusee for their expertise, and I get that from them. They challenge back, and they do that because they have better options to meet my objectives. I really like that from people I’m working with. Also, their technical skills and the quality at which they get things done are absolutely spot on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. The communication was spot on, and, even though they’re based in Ukraine, they came out to London to meet me and see how things were going. Development-wise, everything got done quickly, and there were no problems. When I needed advice from them, I got it. The only thing I would’ve liked is to have visited them at their office, but that’s not a fault; it’s probably just me wanting a holiday. I’ve absolutely loved working with Geniusee.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They should have an open mind and be prepared to be challenged in terms of their thinking. I’d recommend going there with an idea, and not with a way of getting it done. Geniusee knows the technology and the solutions, and they can turn the client’s idea into a product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Validify, a technology company. We provide a platform for large B2C businesses to access and discover SaaS technologies and connect with those solution providers about their technical innovation requirements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Geniusee?

We needed someone to develop our platform from the ground up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have been our outsourced developers. After our CTO and project manager defined the initial requirements for them, they started working in an agile approach. We work in a sprint process, and the requirements are constantly evolving. We’re very driven by what our customers are saying and what the priorities are. They work on front- and backend development.

What is the team composition?

There are 2–3 people. Our plan is to increase the resources once we get fundraising. We’ve worked with the same developers from the very beginning. They’re extremely familiar with the project.

How did you come to work with Geniusee?

We found them through our CTO, who had done previous work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They allow us to dial-up resources much quicker than if we were trying to hire developers here. It’s much more cost-effective too.

How did Geniusee perform from a project management standpoint?

Our CTO and project manager have daily standups with them. They use Slack and Jira, with the latter being for providing wireframes and tasks. They’re flexible with our ongoing changes.

I communicate with the CEO every four nights for a quick catchup. They’re very positive and have been very proactive. They’re based in Ukraine and we’re in London, and they’ve traveled over to see what we’re doing and get to know the project more personally. They feel like a part of our team even though they’re external contractors.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a lot of different skill sets that we can tap into if our requirements change. Our platform is web-based but we’re looking to potentially develop a native app soon. They have those skill sets, which gives us a lot of flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The initial part of getting to know us and the project was a little bit bumpy, but that’s to be expected. They got familiar with the project quickly.